(25 Jul 2015) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 2070339
US President Barack Obama nudged African nations on Saturday to treat gays and lesbians equally under the law - a position that remains unpopular through much of the continent.
Obama's Kenyan counterpart responded at a joint news conference in Nairobi by calling the matter a "non-issue" for his country.
Obama tackled the sensitive matter on his first full day in Kenya, the country of his father's birth.
He drew on his own background as an African-American, noting the slavery and segregation of the US past and saying he was painfully aware of the history when people are treated differently under the law.
Kenyatta was unmoved, saying gay rights was not really "an issue on the foremost mind of Kenyans".
A number of Kenyan politicians and religious leaders had warned Obama in outspoken terms that any overtures on gay rights would not be welcomed in Kenya, where gay sex is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The Kenyan gay community also complains of sometimes violent harassment.
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